Over-75s, care home residents and anyone with a weakened immune system can already book their autumn Covid jab, three weeks before they are officially released.
The NHS opened its national booking service on 17 August, and the jabs themselves start on 1 October, but there is no need to wait for a letter. Eligible residents can book today through the NHS App, the NHS website, by calling 119, at a participating pharmacy or through their GP.
The rules are unchanged from last year. Free NHS Covid jabs go to adults aged 75 and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and anyone aged six months and over with a weakened immune system. It is the same three groups as in the spring, and the same as last autumn: 75, not 65, is still the line the NHS is drawing. Everyone else will not be offered a free Covid jab this year.
For most over-65s the flu jabs open the same day, and the NHS will give both at the same appointment where possible.
Should you hurry? England’s Covid indicators are at their lowest level for late summer since comparable records began. Test positivity in England was 2.9% in the week to 23 August, against 8.7% the same week last year, 8.9% in 2024 and 12.2% in 2023, and the weekly hospital admission rate was roughly a sixth of last year’s level. But every indicator that is still being updated is ticking upward, and London currently has the highest positivity of any English region.
England’s last published daily hospital admission figure is from 31 July, more than five weeks ago, and the national surveillance report itself now comes out only once a fortnight. Genetic sequencing, which is how new variants get spotted early, has fallen sharply since last autumn. UKHSA’s own most recent assessment is that Covid is “circulating at baseline levels”, not the language of a wave.
In the United States, which still publishes weekly figures, Covid hospital admissions have risen for eight consecutive weeks, reaching 3,181 in the week to 29 August. That is an American trend, not a London one. England’s own next clear reading, covering the week to 6 September, is due on Thursday 10 September.
“Booking is quick and easy through the NHS website, the NHS App or by calling 119,” said Dr Matthew Dominey, a consultant in public health with NHS England South West. “If you are eligible, book now and give yourself the best protection before flu and COVID-19 start circulating more widely this winter.”
You can book right now, without waiting for a letter, through the NHS App, the NHS website, by calling 119, or by asking at your local pharmacy or GP surgery. Pharmacies and GP practices across SW15 and SW18 are taking part this year; the NHS website’s own pharmacy finder shows which ones near you are offering it.
If you’re under 75 and don’t qualify but still want a jab, Boots currently runs a private Covid vaccination service at £98.95 a dose for anyone aged 12 and over.
The invitation letter will arrive eventually. The appointment does not need to wait for it.
